Oxford Prevention and Detection Studies receives boost

A partnership between Oxford University’s Oncology Clinical Trials Office (OCTO) and the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit (PC-CTU) has received £1 million over the next five years from Cancer Research UK, supporting efforts to deliver a portfolio of precision prevention and early detection cancer trials.

Professor Sarah Blagden, Director of OCTO at the University of Oxford, said: ”I am delighted that we have been awarded this funding from Cancer Research UK. This investment will allow us to work with scientists within and outside Oxford to develop ways to prevent cancer or detect it at earlier stages. This is particularly important for people who have risk factors and who currently live in fear in developing cancer. By working closely with our Primary care team, we intend to increase our geographical reach to involve people across the entirety of the UK.”

People with cancer risk factors include those with genetic conditions and one of the first Precision-Prevention trials to come from this team is the Metformin in Li-Fraumeni (MILI) trial. The MILI trial will test the effectiveness of the antidiabetic drug metformin at reducing cancer rates in those with the genetic condition Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS) who currently have an almost 100% risk of developing cancer during their lifetime.

The study is due to launch this summer and is funded by the NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) and Medical Research Council (MRC) partnership with the additional support from Cancer Research UK.

LFS is a rare genetic condition caused by a mutation in a gene called TP53, either inherited from a parent or occurring as a new mutation at conception.

Professor Blagden explained: “Currently there are no treatments to prevent cancer in those with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS). The MILI trial aims to enrol 224 patients with LFS in the UK. A parallel trial will be run in the US too.”

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